Profiles of Children
                               Ages 5-9

(Summary statements and ideas from Arnold Gesell and Frances Ilg, 
The Child from Five to Ten, New York: Harper and Row.)

How can we best portray the rich and varied development that 
takes place in the growthsome years from five to ten? Most of 
these transformations come so stealthily that we are scarcely 
aware of them at the time at which they occur. Yet they come with 
such unremitting surety that each birthday marks a significant 
advance. Each year brings changes in the maturity picture. 
Although we shall never apply age norms arbitrarily, it gives us 
a sense of perspective to know that there are fundamental 
correspondences in the dynamic make-up of the child. The maturity 
characteristics of the child may well serve as touchstones for a 
more sympathetic insight into the inner psychology of school 
children.

The following is a summary of descriptions of the developmental 
essence of the child from five to ten. Developmental essence is a 
series of descriptions which will define the directions and 
destinations of development. Incidental comparisons between 
adjoining stages of maturity will give a further insight into 
development as a process.


FIVE YEARS OLD

Behavior profile - Five is a kind of golden age both for parent 
and child. For a brief period he tides of development flow 
smoothly. The child is content to organize the experiences that 
he gathered somewhat piecemeal in he less deliberate fourth year. 
He is self-contained, on friendly and familiar terms with his 
environment.  His is a here -and -now world with his mother at 
the center.He does not tolerate kindergarten well if it makes too 
many pioneering demands on him because he is not in a pioneering 
phase of development. He doesn't want too much magic or too much 
fairy tale. He is something of a homebody and enjoys the 
dramatization of domestic situations in kindergarten class.He has 
a robust sense of possession but does not have a general notion 
of ownership. He is realistic, concrete, and first-personal.

Five is more deliberate than four. He thinks before he speaks and 
may have a vein of humor. He seeks adult support and guidance and 
likes to be "good." Even so, he is not a highly socialized 
individual. Cooperative play is usually limited to a group of 
three and he accepts either sex in play.

Five is practical rather than romantic. Give him a crayon and he 
will draw a man with head, trunk, extremities, eyes, and nose. He 
can copy a square and a few capital letters. He is a great 
talker.

Emotional Expression - Five is a helper, truly cooperative, 
poised. If spoken to sharply he will cry.

Interpersonal Relations - He takes life as it comes, giving and 
taking little. He has endearing ways of showing love. He shows a 
greater ability to play with others, is less bossy and more 
helpful, protective. During play the optimal number is two. When 
there are three, two will gang up on the third. He needs to be 
protected from being held too long in a social situation because 
of his emotional fragility.

Play and Pastimes - When asked "What do you like to do best?" he 
answers, "play." And he is a good player. He shows a craving for 
the standard kindergarten materials. He paints, draws, colors, 
cuts and pastes. He especially likes to cut things out. Sometimes 
he cuts things into shreds simply for the sake of cutting. Blocks 
continue to be highly favored play material for both boys and 
girls. Girls build houses for their dolls and boys build roads, 
bridges, tunnels and use their houses for tanks, airplanes, army 
trucks and fire engines. Houses play an important role in play. 
He builds them and wants to get in them, but does not really play 
in them after he has entered.

Babies are another interest of the five year old. Dolls are used 
and both boys and girls are interested. Five year old boys will 
ask for dolls for Christmas. Gross motor activities are a 
favorite - riding tricycles, swinging, climbing, skipping.

READING & NUMBERS 
There is nothing a five-year-old likes better than being read to, 
although he may spend considerable time looking at books himself 
and may even pretend to read. He prefers stories about animals 
that act like human beings. He likes to listen to the reading of 
comic strips even though he may not understand them. He is 
becoming more aware of the fundamentals of reading and 
arithmetic, is interested in copying letters and numbers.

SCHOOL LIFE 
Five is ready for the experience of being with children his own 
age. He adjusts with relative ease. Girls are more apt to like 
school than boys. Five enjoys routine and adjusts well to an 
activity program that allows freedom of movement yet maintains 
control of the sequences of events. Transitions are easy - he can 
complete a task and put materials away and be ready for the next 
activity. Reading and number work is closely associated with 
play. He likes to identify repetitious words in a familiar book. 
He likes to pretend to read a book he has memorized.

He likes to count objects, can copy numbers. He learns to 
identify a penny, nickel, and dime. Attempts to add or subtract 
within five are made with or without using fingers or objects.

Being five is important to him. He is more likely to tell you 
that he is five years old than to tell you his name. He plays on 
his own, even though he likes to be in a group. He goes from one 
activity to another, usually completing each.

SIX YEARS OLD

Behavior Profile - When a child begins to lose his angelic five-
year-oldness, what has happened to him? He has become six! The 
sixth year brings fundamental changes. It is an age of 
transition. He loses teeth, is more susceptible to infectious 
disease, is not as robust as the five year old. Along with 
erupting six year molars, new propensities are erupting: new 
impulses, new feelings, new actions. Six tends to go to 
extremes.He has trouble making decisions even between something 
as simple as chocolate or vanilla. He is afflicted with 
bipolarity - a seesaw awareness of both ends of a dilemma. This 
is manifested in many ways. He cries, but is easily diverted into 
laughter.In one breath he says," I love you" but in another 
breath may say "I hate you."

Difficulty in making distinctions between two possibilities is 
not limited to emotional situations. In early efforts to print 
letters, he is prone to reverse them. B is backward. This 
tendency to reverse letters and numbers is one reason to delay 
the beginning of formal teaching of reading.

A teacher will see rich energies from her first graders. A 
schoolroom represents the tool and technique by which our culture 
attempts to pattern these abounding energies. A good teacher will 
interpret this energy as symptomatic of a growth process which 
needs skillful direction. Such a teacher creates in her room a 
cheerful atmosphere of tolerance and security which is hospitable 
to a certain dramatic quality in the six year old. That dramatic 
quality being a natural tendency to express himself through frank
muscular reactions.

The six year old is not simply trying to perfect abilities that 
he had at five. Nature is adding a cubit to his psychological 
stature. He is moving into strange domains of experience, using 
his muscles, large and small, to pioneer new pathways.

EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION - He is in a more or less constant state of 
emotional tension. By six and a half, he begins to lose this 
rigidity. Many of his difficulties arise out of his inability to 
shift and to modulate behavior. He is not so much persistent and 
unable to stop, so he continues to cry once he has started. His 
initial response to any personal demand made upon him is usually 
"no" but given time will come around to the idea almost as though 
it were his own. Praise is an elixir, correction is poison. The 
shift in emotions from five and a half to six is akin to passing 
from dark to light. By the age of six and a half, joy begins to 
figure more strongly in his emotional life. Once again he "loves" 
to do things.

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS - Six is a trying age. The difficult, 
rigidly explosive behavior of the five and a half year old can 
best be handled by preventive means, by suggesting the opposite 
of the desired behavior. An indirect approach that gives the 
child several chances will more likely set the child on the move. 
Six quickly detects any shift in facial expression and reacts 
badly to the raising of a voice. He assumes a "know-it-all" 
attitude which makes him seem domineering. In spite of this 
assertive behavior, six still craves affection. Although some 
sixes play well alone, most want other children to play with. He 
is often rough in his play and will fight if things do not go his 
way.

PLAY AND PASTIMES - In play, he spreads himself as he does in 
everything else. He continues many of his five year old 
interests, but with more intensity of feeling. He draws more 
actively than formerly. Boys draw spaceships, planes, trains, and 
boats with occasional persons. Girls prefer to draw people and 
houses. There is a return to an earlier interest in earth and 
water. He loves his "muck shop" and boys love to dig. Anew demand 
of the six year old is for a bicycle. This urge seems to be based 
on a need and a desire for locomotor leg exercise and body 
balance, rather than on mere possessiveness.

Sex differences in choice of play are defining themselves more 
clearly. Both sexes like running games and hide-and-seek, 
skating, swimming. Both like to play ball games. Girls like to 
jump rope. By six, doll play is at its height. Boys may enter 
into house play, but they are more apt to play war games, cowboys 
or cops and robbers.

READING AND NUMBERS - Six takes a more active part in reading. He 
is interested in recognizing some words, printing letters to 
spell real words, and oral spelling. Six likes stories about 
animals, still, but is branching out into an interest in nature 
and birds. He likes poetry.

SCHOOL LIFE - Six shows a positive anticipation of first grade. 
He wants to do "real work" and to "learn." Dislike of school does 
not occur until the end of the year if he has been unable to 
maintain his place in the group. Interrelationship of home and 
school is important to the six year old. He brings many things to 
school and takes many things home as well, such as drawings. His 
thrill is to take home the first primer he has mastered. Learning 
to utilize symbols in reading, writing, and arithmetic is his new 
challenge. He especially likes group oral work since he is such a 
talker. He likes to recognize words the teacher puts on the 
chalkboard and to write at his desk. He cannot easily copy from 
the chalkboard as of yet.

ETHICAL SENSE - The growth clock appears to be set backward at 
the very important age of six.  This may be thought of as a 
backlash of reorganization preparatory to new organization. Girls 
do not seem to experience the more extreme patterns of 
disorganization that boys exhibit. They are better at conforming. 
It is not easy for six to make up his mind. This causes him to 
shift his decision back and forth. But when he does make up his 
mind, rarely can anything make him change it. Six is aware of 
"goodness" and "badness" in himself and he wants to be good - 
especially if it does not take too much effort. He is apt to 
blame others for a misbehavior unless it is very serious. Then he 
is often able to take full responsibility. Big things are easy. 
It is the little things that cause the most trouble. Taking 
things belonging to others and telling tall tales are common at 
six.

SEVEN YEARS OLD

Behavior Profile - There is in many children a quieting down at 
seven, but before we reach this quiet, sometimes withdrawn time 
in his life, we have the joy of experiencing the six and a half 
year old. As a child reaches somewhere around six and a half 
years of age, on the way to seven, there often comes a marvelous 
period when the energy and enthusiasm of six is expressed in 
positive rather than negative ways. Six and a half relates 
strongly and warmly and can be a delightful and engaging 
companion. For a few short months, until the age of seven brings 
in its characteristically minor notes, the child seems briefly to 
be at his very top form, happy with himself, a joy to those 
around him.

Seven is something else again. He goes in to lengthening periods 
of calmness and self-absorption, oblivious to the outside world. 
Seven is an assimilating age, a time for salting down accumulated 
experience and for relating new experiences to the old. By this 
token the seven year old is a good listener. He likes to be read 
to, He likes to hear a twice-told tale.  He seems more 
introverted than the six year old. We want to say, "He's a better 
child now." Basically he is, of course, the same child in a new 
stage of growth.

Seven is a pleasant age, if one respects the feelings of the 
child. His feelings need a new and subtle regard because he is 
prone to lapse into musing moods whereby he absorbs, revives, and 
reorganizes his experiences. we cannot do justice to the 
psychology of the seven year old unless we recognize the 
importance of his private mental activities. They account for his 
brooding, his heedlessness, the minor strains of sadness and 
complainingness, his sulks, his shyness.

He takes in more than he gives out. In another year he'll be 
expansive, but for now he mulls things over. Although given over 
to self-absorption, seven is not an isolationist. He is becoming 
sensitive to others. He wants a new baby brother or sister. He 
begins a measure of detachment from mother, shows new interest in 
father and playmates. He becomes very fond of his teacher. His 
joy is unalloyed when his teacher smiles upon him. He brings her 
an apple, he likes to be near her, likes to touch her and to talk 
to her. In a genial second-grade room each child is likely to 
have a personal relationship to the teacher. In fact, he may even 
fall in love with her. The wise teacher recognizes this relation 
as a developmental mechanism. She quietly circulates about the 
room so that she may come into personal touch with and talk 
individually to the children. She does not rule from a throne. By 
setting up sympathetic two-way relationships, she exerts a 
powerful influence on the emotional organization of her pupils.

Personality development is of great importance at this age.
The second grade is peculiarly in need of sensitive and 
perceptive teachers.

Seven has a deepening vein of independence. In terms of
development, he is at some times amenable and at other times
assertive. There is considerable variability from day to
day and within a single day.  There are mood changes from
sweet-and-good to cross-and-tearful. His self-dependence is
not robust enough for highly cooperative play. Group play
is loosely organized and individual ends are still the most
prominent. He is not a good loser, he tattletales. If
things go badly, he quits, muttering "unfair, gyp, mean.
This budding righteousness is the developing of an ethical
sense. He begins to discriminate between good and bad in
other children. He is becoming conscious of attitudes of
playmates. He doesn't want to be seen crying. He is able
to "pull himself together" better now than before. He tends
to be more polite and a better child when away from home.
Tantrums are vanishing.

At the age of seven there are new evidences of reasonableness. 
Seven is more reflective, he takes time to think, he is 
interested in conclusions and logical ends.

Seven is self-critical. Out comes the eraser. Seven is the eraser 
age. Perseverance is a characteristic of seven, that tendency to 
continue and repeat a behavior that affords satisfaction. When he 
draws something, he draws it over and over again with few 
variations. He wants to play cards till he wins. It is clear that 
seven has progressed well beyond the impulsive and episodic 
tendencies of six. Although self-centered, he is less completely 
self-absorbed.

Although he is interested in fairies, in supermen, and in
tales of magic, he is beginning to manifest an almost
scientific interest in causes and conditions. He entertains
some skepticism of the existence of Santa Claus, but not to
the detriment of his Christmas joys and illusions. He
betrays a thoughtful interest in God and heaven, and asks
concrete questions about them.	He has given up the idea
that God shoves the clouds around.  He is not overcome with
the mysteries of death, but shows a marked interest in its
possible causes.

Seven meets us more than halfway. He is susceptible to praise, 
sensitive to disapproval. Scolding and physical punishment are 
too gross for the tender tissue of his personality. His ethical 
sense is immature only because it is so recent.

EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION - By six and a half to seven years of age 
the child's life takes on a more serious, thoughtful tone. He is 
more inhibited,more controlled, and more aware of other people. 
Seven has a tendency to withdraw from situations rather than stay 
and resist, as six does. By this withdrawal, he is protective of 
himself. Seven runs away from home, but only gets to the front 
steps.

Although seven cries less, he screeches more. He shouts his 
criticisms of life, and voices his exuberance in the same high-
pitched manner. His chief interpersonal difficulties are with his 
siblings and other children. He fights and contradicts. He also 
sets up too high goals for himself. He wants to be perfect.  He 
brings home only his "100" papers.

Though he has difficulty starting things, once started he does 
not know when to stop. He wakes up talking, cannot stop thinking, 
and asks questions all day long.

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS - Seven is becoming a real member of the 
family group, ready to take on some household responsibilities. 
He likes to help and often takes on certain routine chores. 
Sometimes this help is spotty. He works best with adult help. He 
is less resistant and stubborn than he was earlier. He gets along 
well not only with his mother, but is becoming extremely 
companionable with his father. Boys especially like to go on long 
walks with their father and having long talks. Girls are more 
sensitive to reprimands from their father and may be jealous of 
any attention he shows their mother.

He does not demand companionship as much as he did at six. He 
spends much time watching TV, writing lists of things, playing 
with a ball , or in other solitary activities. As a rule he plays 
well wit other children. Sex lines are not clearly drawn, but 
some discrimination against the opposite sex is beginning to 
appear. Boys cannot be bothered with girls, and girls think boys 
are not well behaved. Seven is more adept at meeting strangers.

PLAY AND PASTIMES - He is obsessive in his play interests. Has a 
"mania" for guns, comic books, and coloring. In play seven is 
becoming more inventive - making paper airplanes, designing 
dresses for paper dolls. There is a strong return to coloring and 
cutting things out. In gross motor activities, seven is cautious 
but not fearful. He has become an expert tree climber. He may own 
a bicycle and ride well. He is learning to swim. At ball, he bats 
better than he catches. He is fond of table games and jigsaw 
puzzles. Magic is greatly favored.

Reading and Numbers - Many sevens are fair readers and enjoy 
reading what they can by themselves. They can get a sense of a 
story without knowing all the words. Seven enjoys fairy tales. 
Boys. like books on airplanes, electricity, earth, and nature. 
Girls chose a book like Heidi. Both sexes love riddles.

Seven returns to school without protest, but feels that second 
grade is too hard.. Home and school are more separate spheres at 
seven. He may not want mother to walk him to school any more. In 
the classroom, he works quieter than he did at six. He is 
frequently seen with head resting on his forearm while he writes. 
He shows temporary fatigue with some tasks by getting up from his 
chair, shoving his desk, getting fidgety. These signs indicate 
that he is ready to change to a different activity.

He likes to manipulate objects, so he picks up pencils, erasers, 
sticks and stones and accumulates them in his desk. He cannot 
copy easily from the blackboard because he does not shift easily 
from far to near and back to far. Boys prefer oral to written 
arithmetic, girls prefer concrete to oral or written. Seven 
prefers to work on the blackboard than at their desk.

As he improves the mechanics of reading, he may become less 
concerned with meaning. He has a special liking for comics. 
Ability to spell lags ability to read.

HE likes oral arithmetic and cards with number combinations. He 
still reverses one or two numbers in writing (usually 2,6,7,9). 
He likes to write long numbers.  Pencils and erasers are a 
passion at seven.

Ethical Sense - He responds well to directions, but forgets 
readily and needs to be reminded. He often requires two chances. 
He rarely needs punishment because he is a reasoning and 
responsible being. Seven wants to be good, although he wants to 
be himself, too. Seven isn't so much concerned with being good, 
he just is good.  He is less likely than six to blame others. He 
has an increasing sense of possession and of the care of his 
possessions. He is better about putting things away, helps his 
mother pick up his room. He likes to collect things, is 
interested in mere quantity. He has an increasing interest in 
money.

There is less lying at seven than in the years that precede and 
follow. Seven, with his strong ethical sense, may be very much 
concerned about the wrongness of lying and cheating. He is 
particularly concerned if this lying and cheating is done by his 
friends.

EIGHT YEARS OLD

Behavior Profile - Four was an expansive age. Five was focal; six 
was dispersive; seven was pensive. Eight again is expansive, but 
on a higher level of maturity. These adjectives are catchwords; 
but they serve to remind us of the accents of development and the 
spiraling trend of psychological growth.

Eight is more of a person by adult standards. Conversation with 
him is less condescending. He is growing up and he knows it. He 
is less brooding and less inwardized than at seven. He is more 
rapid in his responses, and more perceptive of the responses of 
others. Three traits characterize the dynamics of his behavior: 
speediness, expansiveness, evaluativeness. He is spreading out 
into the culture, testing and applying meaning from the previous 
year. There is a new vein of active curiosity, a mounting energy 
and a robustness different from the sweetness of earlier 
childhood. Eight even begins to look more mature. His eyes are 
now ready to accommodate near and far distances. He is healthier 
and less fatigable than seven. He is more rough-and-tumble and 
boisterous;talks,reads and writes, and plays in high gear. The 
two sexes are drawing apart.

At school eight is not as dependent upon the teacher as he 
formerly was. To a considerable degree, he and his schoolmates 
are beginning to furnish some of their own discipline, and to 
control their own activity through mutual criticism.Teacher does 
not have to circulate so much to lend her personal support.

His feelings are easily hurt, particularly when his emotional 
relationships with his mother are involved. He is not given to 
long periods of depression. On the playground he can give and 
take criticism. He is learning to lose.

Eight year olds are able to plan to present with spontaneous flow 
fairly complete dramatic renderings, historical and otherwise. 
This dramatic interest has double significance. It evidences two 
of the traits mentioned above: evaluativeness and expansiveness. 
His ego has a new degree of flexibility; by impersonation he can 
assume one role after another, appraising each role in terms of 
how he would feel under the required circumstances. A less mature 
mind merely mimics roles without this evaluative inflection.

EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION - Eight is more "outside himself" than was 
seven. He is less sensitive, less apt to withdraw. He is ready to 
tackle anything. His interest is short lived and he shifts 
rapidly from one thing to the next. This power to shift rapidly 
makes him more controllable, for he calms down quickly with 
little help. It is even possible to control him with a look. He 
is full of impatience - "he just can't wait." He frequently needs 
someone's complete attention. He needs help to hold to better to 
a task. Eight is not always the most delightful child to have 
around. He likes to argue, is most aware of others' mistakes, but 
is also self-critical. He expresses his silliness in nonsense 
rhyming, and when he is tired he may actually go on a laughing 
jag.

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS - Eight may be "easy to get on with" at 
home, but his best behavior is usually when he is away from home. 
He is not the helper he was at seven. What he does now depends on 
his moods. Eight is the age when "best" friends begin to play a 
part in the life of the child. School becomes important because 
his friends are there. Usually these friends are of the same sex 
because eight marks the beginning of a definite change as to 
preferred sex of playmates. Boys and girls are now beginning to 
segregate in play. Girls as a rule are the first to separate off 
from the boys, but theirs is a quiet drawing away. Boys, when 
they become conscious of a need for separation, are often very 
rough and boisterous about excluding girls.

PLAY AND PASTIMES - Eight hates to play alone. He not only 
demands the presence of another, but demands that person's full 
attention. Action is the key characteristic of his play. He likes 
to dramatize. He likes to collect. In fact a "collecting craze" 
reaches it's peak for many eights.

Those eights who are just beginning to read well now enjoy 
reading spontaneously. Although he may read well, he may not 
spend as much time at reading by himself as he did at seven. He 
still enjoys being read to. He enjoys the classics of childhood. 
He enjoys the wonderful, magical, and absurd adventures of Mary 
Poppins, but is also interested in books of travel, geography, 
and faraway places and times. Comic books are still his 
favorites. This interest peaks at eight or nine. He enjoys 
pictorial magazines. He can pore for hours over catalogs. Eight 
enjoys school and may even dislike staying at home. Eights enter 
the schoolroom with enthusiasm. They busy themselves by writing 
on the blackboard, inspecting a globe, they may dawdle in the 
cloakroom. They smile, touch, hit at each other as they pass by. 
In the classroom they are eager to talk and want to answer every 
question. If a child is slow to answer, they are sure to respond 
for him. Eight can shift his eyes more easily from blackboard to 
desk. He can copy from the board and he also likes to write on it 
while his classmates attend to his performance. He works more 
independently than at seven. The impatient eight is eager to be 
given directions and though he seemingly understands them, he may 
need to have them repeated.

Eight enjoys reading. He can tackle new words through context or 
phonics. He is more skillful and only occasionally makes errors 
similar to those of six or seven. He now omits unimportant words, 
reverses word order in a phrase, but usually maintains the 
meaning. Many read well enough to prefer silent reading. Exciting 
and humorous stories are favored. 

Writing is less laborious now. Oral and written arithmetic is 
enjoyable. He likes to write on the blackboard and to work in a 
workbook. He shifts from one process to another. In the midst of 
a multiplication example, the child may shift to addition or to 
subtraction.

ETHICAL SENSE - Eight's behavior harks back to that of his six-
year-old self, even though he is now less rigid. Some do not hear 
what is asked of them because they are so engrossed in what they 
are doing. He demands that the adult treat him more like a 
grownup. A look will bring him back in line. Criticism may bring 
tears, and as at six, he thrives on praise. Eight wants to be 
good. He is more aware of the opposing forces of good and bad. He 
wants his goodness to be appreciated. And although he is becoming 
more responsible, his first impulse is to blame others.

NINE YEARS OLD

The nine-year-old is no longer a mere child; nor is he a youth. 
Nine is an intermediate age, in the middle zone that lies between 
kindergarten and middle school. Self-motivation is the cardinal 
characteristic of the nine-year-old. It is the key to 
understanding him on his progress toward maturity. He has a 
growing capacity to put his mind to things, on his own initiative 
or on only slight cues from the environment. This gives him a 
preoccupied businesslike air. He can interrupt himself, however, 
and get right back to task. For example, he can take a trip to 
the pencil sharpener and return to his work without loss of 
momentum and without a reminder. He can fill idle moments with 
useful activity. He can work two or three hours at a stretch. 
Where eight expended a quantum of attention on a difficult task, 
he soon exhausted his energy. Nine is able to summon reserves of 
energy and renew his attack for repeated trials. This is due to 
the greater maturity of his whole behavior equipment. No wonder 
that he is such an excellent pupil. In fact, is so interested in 
perfecting skills that he likes to do the same thing over and 
over again. When he attacks a problem without immediate success, 
he reveals a power of self-appraisal. This power of appraisal, 
however, is not limited to himself, but extends to other persons. 
He shows considerable ability in social criticism as well as 
self-criticism.

In view of his immaturity, nine shows an impressive sense of 
fairness and reasonableness in his estimates and expectations. He 
can accept blame and has a keen emotional and intellectual 
interest in punishments, privilege, rules, and procedures. 

Nine is essentially truthful and honest. He is dependable and 
responsible. He gets along well with his playmates, and builds 
friendships of some depth and duration. In school, groups may 
include both boys and girls, but spontaneous groups are nearly 
always unilateral. Birthday parties are usually limited to one 
sex. Boys tease each other about girlfriends, girls tease each 
other about boyfriends. Each sex cordially disdains the other. 

Nine is stamped with individuality. He has gestures, ways of 
laughing, humor, sulks and moods, table manners, possessions, 
modes of speech, demeanors and enthusiasms which make him unique. 
He is above all an age when individuality seeks to reassert and 
reorganize itself. An active nine is not too dependent on praise, 
but he accepts approval and benefits from it. 

In spite of the wide diversity of individual differences, we can 
still recognize general developmental characteristics that typify 
the nine-year zone of maturity. Like the eight-year-old, nine can 
be characterized by the traits of speediness, expansiveness, and 
evaluativeness.

These traits operate at a higher degree of integration. Eight 
works very fast, but with bursts of speed. Nine is still speedy 
but his speed is under control and less noticeable and he 
sustains his speed for longer intervals. The expansiveness of 
eight was influenced by his immediate environment; for nine, it 
comes from within. It is self-motivated. Evaluations of nine are 
deeper and more discriminating than those of eight. Nine is able 
to express finer shades of feeling. His voice has softened, his 
tensions are more delicate, his disgusts more dainty. The 
mechanisms of conscience are highly developed at this early age. 
There is a certain reasonableness in the psychology of the nine-
year-old. He is open to instruction; he is factual, forthright. 
He is not too interested in magic; he has a healthy strain of 
skepticism. He has put aside the Santa Claus myth, but he is not 
so ruthless as to destroy it for a younger sibling. He believes 
in luck and chance, but he also believes in law; otherwise he 
would not be so anxious to find out how things are done, and why 
they are what they are. He seeks correction and explanation of 
his errors. The nine-year-olds best traits are his realism, his 
reasonableness, and his self-motivation. On a juvenile scale, he 
is a businesslike, fair-minded, responsible individual. He is no 
longer a child. He is trending toward the teens.

EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION - Nine is finally becoming what his parents 
have been striving for. He is becoming more responsible, 
independent and dependable. He is easier to get along with and he 
obeys well. Nine is coming into the realm of the more positive 
emotions. Although he may be impatient and quick-tempered, and 
may flare up, these responses tend to be short-lived. Nine is a 
loyal and devoted friend. He admires members of his own sex, his 
own age or a few years older. This is the beginning of hero-
worship. 

It is surprising to see how little needs to be done to tip the 
scales in the right direction for nine. One experience may set 
off a spark that needs no replenishing. The sight of a person 
with bad table manners may be a powerful stimulus for nine to 
improve his own ways. The present of a small fossil may set him 
on an encyclopedic search for all the knowledge he can secure 
about prehistoric life. This is the age when the child becomes 
impressed with whatever he is told. Prejudices, which often start 
at eight, need to be explained to the nine-year-old so that he 
will not become mired in them.

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS - When nine is absorbed in what he is 
doing, he may not hear a request. Therefore it is important to 
secure some response from him to make sure he has heard your 
voice. He needs a great deal of reminding. He may forget to wash 
his hands or brush his teeth. He accepts reminding willingly and 
usually acts on it at once. It is not difficult to discipline 
nine. Often he is controlled merely by a look. At times he may 
need a short isolation period, especially from other children. He 
responds well to a warning or to an actual deprivation. Nine does 
not as a rule present a problem with younger or older siblings. 
He is good when made responsible for younger siblings for brief 
periods. 

The tendency to have special friends,seen to be forming at eight, 
is stronger at nine. But nine still chooses a member of the same 
sex for a special friend. There is now overt criticism of the 
opposite sex. 

Nine loves to talk about himself. He enjoys group play that 
requires a fair amount of organization. Clubs form, but they do 
not last long.

PLAY AND PASTIMES - Much of nine's time is spent in solitary 
activities such as reading and watching television. Nine wants to 
do endlessly what he enjoys doing. Boys play football till they 
are black and blue. Girls will play dolls the whole day through. 
Baseball is a favorite sport for both boys and girls. 

Nine is a great reader. He may even appear to be living in a book 
world. He rarely reads fairy tales now. The books he likes, he 
reads over and over again. He likes animal stories and the junior 
classics such as Tom Sawyer, Treasure Island, King Arthur, and 
Bambi. He likes biographies, mysteries, and the encyclopedia. 
Interest in comic books still exists. 

Nine enjoys school. But teachers report that fourth is a 
difficult grade to teach. Nine is an individualist, with rather 
positive likes and dislikes. He wants to be independent of his 
teacher. Dislike of a teacher may be linked to a dislike of a 
subject, especially if the child has more than one teacher. The 
change from third to fourth grade is a crucial one. Many who have 
been developing on the slower side may now have a real spurt of 
improvement. Some who have been doing well may now need help. 

Nine has a greater capacity for working independently. He is 
challenged by the task. He is interested in achieving in school 
subjects, and likes to be graded. He has a better critical 
evaluation of his own abilities. He has a certain amount of self-
discipline. Speedy in his work and given a goal, he rushes to get 
there. 

In reading, he may prefer to read silently and may dislike 
reading orally before the group. Handwriting is now put to 
practical use. He writes lists, orders things by mail. 
Penmanship, especially in girls, is smaller, neater, and done 
with less pressure. Boys still write with heavy strokes. 

Arithmetic is the most talked-of subject in fourth grade. It is 
either loved or hated. He prefers written to oral work. 

Friendships are being formed. Nine chooses a best friend to work 
or play with. Boys form stronger twosomes and act as a group more 
than girls. Girls are more varied in their groups, and two- 
three-, and four-somes often exist. Boys and girls play 
separately; the adult is rarely included. However nine does enjoy 
a group game supervised by an adult.

ETHICAL SENSE - Nine is, as a rule, responsive to any demand put 
upon him if he has heard it. His hearing may be related to his 
absorption of what he is doing, but it also may be related to his 
interest in and willingness to do the task required. 

He takes reminding with good grace. His intentions are often 
higher than his acts. He really wants to be helpful, but he lacks 
the spontaneity in doing things. 

The drag and uncertainty in making up his mind which he 
experienced earlier are no longer evident. Nine makes up his mind 
rapidly, definitely, and often to his parents' satisfaction. He 
shows a considerable degree of forethought:  he can set his mind 
to a task and can carry it through to completion.